Battery woes

[Macman]

OK - up front admission I am the worst at battery care/maintenance.

Got on my cart yesterday and it wouldn't move. Charger would not turn on either. Checked and found several batteries were low on water and made the assumption the overall power level was below the threshold to trigger the charger on.

Topped off the batteries with fresh (distilled) water, and with some online advice from Google, connected my auto battery charger. within 30 seconds or less the charger kicked on and is now charging. Power level must have been just below the threshold.

So my question is what next? Leaving the charger on for however long it takes. What are the odds I now have bad batteries? I loathe the idea of having to spend my stimulus check on batteries. What can i check to get an idea of their condition? (Yes, I have a multimeter)

Before you ask, I'm not sure of their age, I'll have to check tomorrow. I bought the cart (a 2014 Club Car Precedent) refurbished from a dealer in late 2017 but I doubt the batteries were brand new. Indeed I've already replaced one about a year ago. My guess is they're 4 or more years old since I've had the cart just over 3 years.

If I need new batteries - is it reasonable to replace them 2 or 3 at a time to spread out the financial expense - say a couple this month, two next month, and two after that?

[CP241]

The capacity when they are let go that low diminishes. So while they will probably take and hold a charge, and work, you won’t have the range they were capable of before.

Replacing one battery at a time is a no-go. The bad/old batteries will quickly cause the brand new one to sink to their level. It’s a waste of money.

My recommendation would be to give this a try. I made COMPLETELY trashed batteries work quite well. If yours are marginal you would probably have even better results.

https://www.buggiesgonewild.com/showthread.php?t=170984

While that still won’t be a permanent fix, the only solution is new batteries long term. However, given your admission of battery maintenance it may buy time for you to save some bucks for a lithium drop in pack. Lithium doesn’t require watering or all the maintenance that the lead acid batteries do. So while it is expensive (couple thousand dollars on average) it would be a better investment long term. I just bought an allied setup that comes with an 8 year warranty. Not because my old batteries are bad (they’re actually in great shape) but because I hate the constant charging, watering, etc.

[Macman]

Well they took a charge and the cart scoots along as quick as ever. Not sure what kind of endurance I'd get out of them. Can't find a date stamp anywhere. I love the idea of lithiums but given price that's a ways off. I'm thinking meantime I'll put new batteries in. I've found a local dealer that has Crown 8V 150Ah batteries for $104 with a 1 year warranty so I can do a full set for $650 - that should buy me 2-3 years to save for lithiums.